Psalm 51

¹Have mercy on me, God, according to your faithful love!

Wipe away my wrongdoings according to your great compassion!

²Wash me completely clean of my guilt;

purify me from my sin!

³Because I know my wrongdoings,

my sin is always right in front of me.

⁴I’ve sinned against you—you alone.

I’ve committed evil in your sight.

That’s why you are justified when you render your verdict,

completely correct when you issue your judgment.

⁵Yes, I was born in guilt, in sin,

from the moment my mother conceived me.

⁶And yes, you want truth in the most hidden places;

you teach me wisdom in the most secret space.

⁷Purify me with hyssop and I will be clean;

wash me and I will be whiter than snow.

⁸Let me hear joy and celebration again;

let the bones you crushed rejoice once more.

⁹Hide your face from my sins;

wipe away all my guilty deeds!

¹⁰Create a clean heart for me, God;

put a new, faithful spirit deep inside me!

¹¹Please don’t throw me out of your presence;

please don’t take your holy spirit away from me.

¹²Return the joy of your salvation to me

and sustain me with a willing spirit.

¹³Then I will teach wrongdoers your ways,

and sinners will come back to you.

¹⁴Deliver me from violence, God, God of my salvation,

so that my tongue can sing of your righteousness.

¹⁵Lord, open my lips,

and my mouth will proclaim your praise.

¹⁶You don’t want sacrifices.

If I gave an entirely burned offering,

you wouldn’t be pleased.

¹⁷A broken spirit is my sacrifice, God.[#51.17 Correction]

You won’t despise a heart, God, that is broken and crushed.

¹⁸Do good things for Zion by your favor.

Rebuild Jerusalem’s walls.

¹⁹Then you will again want sacrifices of righteousness—

entirely burned offerings and complete offerings.